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Existentialism In Jack London's To Build A Fire

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The short story written by Jack London depicts a man that begins his journey with only a slight awareness of the weather outside. Since this story takes place in Yukon so he freezes to death walking to a shining camp which is at Henderson Creek, so he can eat his biscuits out of his sweaty shirt and to fill them with greasy bacon. Throughout the story, he embarks on a journey through the hostile environment of the Yukon. London emphasizes the existential theme in “To Build a Fire” in a number of ways, one of them and the most important being: his selection of setting in which the story is set. The setting is the cold depths of Yukon during the harsh winter months. Jack uses phrases such as, “there was no sun nor hint of sun” this reveals that the author places his main character in an environment where it is a perilous setting of the wilderness. In depth, London serves to illustrate the …show more content…

Coco is the name of an old, crippled and white horse that is close to his last days. Both the characters, live on the farm and everyday Isadore has to walk Coco to the field to graze. Since Isadore personally disliked the horse because of how slow she moved and how much of a hassle he went through every day. So, Isadore pulled the reins on Coco to force her to walk. Throughout the story, the author describes the harsh things the boy does to the old horse. As the days pass, Coco became bonier and skinner and Isadore, a young deceiver decides to put vengeance on him. The story ends with Isadore finally quitting the job of pulling her around and Coco being buried. Within the story, Coco written by Guy de Maupassant, there was no poetic device to be found however a moral of this story is to think twice before an action be final, since Isadore sold Coco in order for him to ease his pain of moving Coco every day and not even realising the pain he put Coco

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